Cybersecurity oversight is a key fiduciary responsibility for a board of directors and was a significant concern for companies even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced so many organizations to suddenly shift to remote work...
When the Women on Corporate Boards Act (Section 1 of Substitute Senate Bill 6037) became effective on June 11, 2020, Washington became the second state (after California) to affirmatively address gender diversity on public company boards of directors in its corporate statute...
While a director's duties of care and loyalty are not to the CEO, the success of the CEO is critical to the success of the company and its stakeholders...
The proxy process sounded an alarm on working conditions in the meatpacking industry. , Tyson Foods Inc (TSN) On Wednesday, Sept. 16, the SEC was scheduled to hold an open meeting to decide whether to adopt new shareholder resolution filing rules. Late on Tuesday it abruptly, and with no further explanation, postponed the final decision by a week...
Family businesses are often left out of the conversation when it comes to economic recovery and growth, says José Liberti, a clinical professor of finance at the Kellogg School of Management...
In the wake of uncertainty about the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on public markets, many compensation committees are evaluating how to follow through on incentive compensation for their executive teams...
The chaos caused by Covid-19 this year has left an indelible mark on global economies. Financial markets experienced historic falls in value as the crisis reached a tipping point in March and whole countries were plunged into public lockdowns...
We need not only more disclosure, but also more work in alerting people in general (and students in particular) about the distortive effects of lobbying and the extent to which it takes place...
COVID-19 is proof that pandemics are a real and catastrophic risk for global economies and businesses. This crisis has shown that many businesses are under prepared for such global-scale disruptions, with those that lack agility and resilience most impacted. As businesses prepare for future systemic risks, they can no longer ignore environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues...
With the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, followed by months of Black Lives Matter protests, through to the shooting of Jacob Blake on August 23, leaders in the United States and around the world have finally begun to recognize the racial inequities embedded deep in the systems in which we operate each day: neighborhoods, schools, stores, banks, courts...
In October 2019, for the third consecutive year, the Staff of the Division of Corporation Finance (Staff) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued guidance concerning companies’ ability to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy statements by addressing the significance of a proposal through a board analysis. That guidance also discussed the ability to exclude proposals on the basis of micromanagement...
Recent protests across the United States and the world have put a magnifying glass on issues of diversity and equity. A new study explores the ways in which these issues go all the way to the top of the corporate ladder...
Exactly 50 years ago, economist Milton Friedman argued that corporate boards should focus on maximizing shareholder value and not get wrapped up in trying to achieve other objectives. The conventional wisdom in boardrooms today seems to be that Friedman was wrong. In fact, though, a lot of what he wrote was spot on...
The recent rise of shareholder activism in Japan has boosted the stock price of Tokyo-listed IR Japan, a consultancy specializing in shareholder relations, elevating its CEO Shirou Terashita into the ranks of the world’s billionaires...
After testing the waters with SB 826’s gender diversity mandate, California’s legislature has further committed the state to equitable board representation with its new measure, AB 979 , which was passed on September 1. If Governor Newsom signs the bill into law by the September 30 deadline, California will (once again) lead the way in statutory diversity and inclusion mandates for public company boards...
The New York hedge fund Starboard Valley is suing San Jose-based Quantum Corp. over alleged fraudulent conduct...
The coronavirus pandemic has reminded business leaders of some unsettling truths: that all assumptions and practices must be continually reexamined and that existential threats can come at any time...
Equality at work has advanced over the past few decades, but it seems that the boardroom is not one of these areas. Very few women have reached the head role in the leading firms in the U.S., as new data reveals. Diversity and inclusion is a topic within the business world that is constantly being addressed and worked upon. As many studies show, there is little equality within boardrooms, equal pay and opportunities for those within minority communities...
At the end of 2019 (which now seems so long ago), my book CEO Leadership: Navigating the New Era in Corporate Governance was published by The University of Chicago Press. My target audience is current and future CEOs and board members, those who advise them and those who teach law and business school students who aspire to those positions...
Having once enjoyed multi-billion-euro revenues, Aryzta has spent the last four years trying to free itself from a series of past management mis-steps. It now faces a shareholder revolt that could fundamentally alter its boardroom - and its future direction. So what is going on at the company? Firstly, what is Aryzta? Aryzta was formed more than ten years ago when the Irish Agricultural Wholesale Society (IAWS) merged with Swiss bakery brand Hiestand...
The ongoing collective grief and outrage expressed over the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery — and most recently, the police shooting of Jacob Blake — signals a cultural shift of acknowledgement against mistreatment of African Americans. However, such tragedy has replayed time after time, and the status quo won’t change without meaningful steps — especially in corporate America ...
(Bloomberg) -- Just like in traditional investing, there are dozens of strategies you can use to be an ESG investor. There are funds that pick the best-rated low-carbon companies, funds that focus on companies with more women on boards, and funds that use a series of ratings and checklists to ensure the stocks they are betting on are “better” than the rest of the market. But is that the best way to get to a more sustainable future...
Shareholder rights plans, commonly known as “poison pills,” are arrangements that can be used by companies to stave off hostile takeovers or activist investors seeking to exert control over a company without paying a control premium...